“The image of this card is the Evening Star (rebirth) and the Morning Star (death) as the twins of ancient myth. The morning star disappears into the brilliance of the sun and reemerges as the evening star. This disappearing and reappearing phenomenon occurs again and again with all the heavenly bodies. In the late autumn season it is the sun itself that disappears below the horizon at the far North. The sun disappears into the body of the Great Mother earth. The promise of the sun’s return is the Winter Solstice, during which strength is needed to make it through the moments of deepest darkness.

“Shu and Tufnut, twin lions (first born of Re) from ancient Egyptian Mythos, are two siblings that are quite interesting. Shu is most often depicted in human form, while his sister, Tufnut assumes the lion’s shape. Originally both were lion deities, reappearing later in the Middle Kingdom as the twin lions of yesterday and today.

“Shu was the ‘Atlas of Egypt,’ his role being to support the sky. His lioness sister was Goddess of the sun and the dew and legend has it that she received the newborn sun each morning. Her brother takes the Sun from her mouth and places it in the sky. Shu and Tufnut were two of the original nine Gods of Heliopolis, but their personalities were later absorbed into Horus and Bast.

“Some of the ancient text refers to the double lion in twin-soul terms, the physical manifestations of the original creator Atum, whose energies assume a dual form upon coming in contact with the earth or material plane.

“ ‘Twin souls follow each other from incarnation to incarnation, sometimes never actually meeting up with him/her on the earth plane, but always gathering the experience necessary for the spiritual development of the complete unit. Another explanation is that only half of the twin incarnates while the other half watches over its polarity from the world of spirit. When the incarnated half has reached a certain level of evolution and awareness then the twin may take human form to create final polarization on the earth level prior to ascending the higher planes… — Murray Hope, The Way of Cartouche (New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1985). P. 151-55.’ ”

And astrologer Lynn Hayes writes of this Full Moon, “This is a time for study, for philosophy, perhaps for travel and adventure! The lunation forms a tight Grand Cross to the lunar nodes which reveals a sense of destiny in this event. Decisions made and adventures taken at this time could play a role in the unfolding of our ultimate experience.”The energies of this Full Moon focus on Yesterday and Today; Sun and Moon; Morning star and Evening star; Sleep and Death; Darkness taking over the Light. This is a time when our choices may affect our destiny in powerful ways. Before us lies the ultimate descent into the shadowlands of the dying light. This journey demands our final surrender, and will call upon all of our understanding, strength and faith.